Disneyland Take 3

Can you believe this was already trip #3 to Disneyland in 2009? The funny thing is that over the course of two days, we barely spent 6 hours in either of the two parks. Sunday and Monday were more than just a trip to Disneyland, it was a Schallock family reunion! We ventured to the resort with my mom to meet up with my sister and her family from Utah. In addition, Jim and I celebrated our 7th Anniversary on Sunday, and my niece celebrated her 6th birthday on Monday. Despite the weather upset, we enjoyed our trip.

Day 1 - Sunday

We awoke early and scrambled to get everyone ready to leave Bakersfield. Because we now have a full backseat, my mom had to drive her own car. Dominic insisted on riding with her...I laughed because I knew he would be Mr. Chatterbox in the back seat (and he was). After a pit stop in Castaic, Dominic joined us in the Tahoe for a movie, and we finished our drive in freeway hell. Actually, the drive wasn't too bad until we hit the East LA interchange and found a traffic accident blocking 4 of 6 lanes right where three freeways branch off.

We arrived at the resort (Paradise Pier) just after 11am and checked in. I was happy to see that our room was ready this go-round, and that the front desk agent (Eric - he was really nice) remembered our anniversary; presenting us with two Mickey and Minnie pins to wear for the day. After unloading, we headed to the Rainforest Cafe for some lunch and to meet up with my sister. My niece had no clue we were coming down for her birthday so she was excited to see us all. Although the rain was light, it was still rather cold outside. We decided to visit California Adventure, but only stayed for a few hours. My sister insisted that we watch the Aladdin stage show....WOW!! If you haven't seen this one yet, it's well worth the wait! It was a 45 minute psuedo Broadway show with singing and dancing, and really cool flying! Dominic LOVED it and even commented "I like that guy" referring to Aladdin. From there we headed back to the merry-go-round and rode that twice (since there was no wait and they didn't make us get off), and then waited about 30 minutes to ride Midway Mania - my favorite!! The boys wanted to ride the Jellyfish ride, and then the Zephyr's. By the time we finished it was 4:45pm, and we headed out as the cold weather was getting to be a bit much for everyone.

Jim and I cleaned up and went to a nice dinner at the sushi restaurant downstairs while my mom took the boys to dinner and put them to bed. After eating dinner, we ventured over to the gift shop in the hotel and decided to partake in pin trading gear since I still had the $69 fun card from my birthday last month. We chose two lanyards, annual pass holders, and about 11 pins to a total of $130 - YIKES!! The lady at the counter was nice enough to five us 4 free trading pins since it was our anniversary. We finished the evening eating a big banana split! I still can't believe it's been 7 years - time sure does fly!

Day 2

We awoke early to prepare for Ella's birthday breakfast at 7:30am. We all had a blast visiting the characters, and Ella enjoyed opening her gifts. Matthew and Lilo flirted for what seemed like 20 minutes, and then he took a bite out of Max's nose. The older kids enjoyed playing the island hopper game with Stitch....TWICE! The weather was not so pretty outside, but we loaded the car and all headed over to Disneyland. We expected that since we arrived shortly after they opened (around 9:30am), we could hit a multitude of rides and hit the road by 2pm...we didn't make it that far. We knew the rain was about to hit, but were not prepared for what would ensue after we rode Indiana Jones and Pirates. Upon exiting from Pirates, we returned to our stroller in a downpour and found every last inch of it soaked...including everything underneath it. Despite the fact that we dropped $30 on rain parka's, we all were suffering from wet feet, pants, hoods, etc. After fighting the water on It's a Small World (which was pretty cool with the new additions), we loaded up and headed to the car. It was only 11:30am. Thankfully the boys had an extra change of clothes, so they rode home dry.

We stopped at Islands in Santa Clarita for lunch, and then drove through snow on I-5 before arriving home at 5pm. Might I add that my jeans were still wet 6 hours later when we arrived home.

Despite the weather, we enjoyed spending time with my sister, her family, and my mom. We will plan our next trip for April or May when the weather is nice, and the crowds are still dismal. I've posted several photos below....thank you, Pattie, for providing me with a few extra!

This is one of the things I love about Jim - his sense of humor!

Gotta love Blogger - I can't get this one rotated.

Joshua and Ella


The Riggio and Huestis Families
Pattie, Ella, Owen, Mike, Pam, Matthew, Jim, Joshua, and Dominic

Can you tell we're twins?

Like mother, like daughters! We all commented on how much we look alike.

Matty asking for more (look at his hands)

Happy Birthday, Ella!

Matty takes a bite out of Max

Owen, Ella, Dominic and Joshua - you'll notice Tigger is hiding under the eaves